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Post by Opie74 on Jan 31, 2015 9:54:17 GMT -8
Firematt and I were talking and one of the things that make events really fun is living the 1940s soon as you get into uniform and get your farby stuff away you turn the switch
the first step in living the 1940s is creating a first person persona
you can draw from many different things some people use their own name some make up others its all up to you but I have my first person to show as and example and some basic questions that need to be answered.
I use my own name I was born in St Paul MN in 1916 and my folks because of my mothers health moved to Prescott Az in 1928 My Dad is a Mechanic and Mom a school teacher, graduated from Prescott hs in 1935 I then went on to recive BA in History for Northern Arizona University and was a HS history teacher in Phoenix (at West High) till Dec.7 1941 (remember where you were when you heard the attack on Pearl) enlisted in June of 42 (because i had to finish my school contract) Did my basic at FT Ord, CA (where i met firematt) and tried for the Air Corp to be a Pilot Flunked out because of my eye-site then went to Ft Benning for jump school (because of Firematt). 3 jumps broke my femur recycled to the 501th then at Camp Taccoa, finished jump school and went with the 501st to England at the end of 1943.
so there are just some overall questions you can answer to help build your impression
1 Where are you from, when where you born, where did you do basic?
2 Where were you when you heard Pearl Harbor was attacked?
3 What did you do before the war?
4 Family: brothers or sisters; moms and dads
this is just a little bit of what needs to be answered but its something to start thinking about
if you have yours write it up here post it let us know
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Post by c50582nd on Jan 31, 2015 11:41:48 GMT -8
I have a WWII persona too but I will post it later because it is affected by aging (I have to portray a younger person or be farbee like Lee Marvin in Big Red One). Another thing I did was create a notional army service number from the period. The USA number is related to your persona because the numbers were based on component and geographic region of where you entered service: Volunteer numbers started with a 1, national guard members started with a 2 and draftee numbers started with a 3. The next number is based on geography and is similar to the first number in modern zip codes. Officers numbers were prefixed with a capital O or zero.
This is a great idea and hope others soon list there persona here.
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Matt
All Americans
Posts: 254
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Post by Matt on Jan 31, 2015 19:15:38 GMT -8
Born March 7th, 1914, Los Angeles. CA Father was PD mother stayed at home, I worked FD to thumb my nose at my Dad at 18. Enlisted after Dec. 7th 1941. Basic at Ft Ord in 1942 met Opie.. went to jump school at Ft Benning GA. Was assigned to the 82nd. Ran into Opie D-day plus 1 miss drops. Have one brother who is in the Pacific Officer on a Destroyer.
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bthodgson
All Americans
I'm the 82nd Airborne Division, and this is as far as the bastards are going! - PFC Vernon Haught
Posts: 728
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Post by bthodgson on Mar 16, 2016 13:03:25 GMT -8
At our last battle, all troopers in attendance should have received our unit's new First Person Worksheet. This document will require our members to do some research into the time period of the 1920's, 1930's and 1940's in order to fill it out. This will help to enhance everyone's knowledge of the time period we seek to portray in the most accurate way possible. It should also help everyone develop their first person persona to then use while we are at the events and stay in what is called "first person".
For those who did not attend the battle, we will be emailing the document to them (provided that we have your email address).
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mexbob
All Americans
Posts: 696
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Post by mexbob on Mar 17, 2016 10:56:43 GMT -8
I would email everyone so that they can work on-line via pdf format. My email is mexbob@msn.com
Thanks for your positive input and leadership in this, Brett.
Bob
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Mayo
Administrator
Posts: 1,545
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Post by Mayo on Mar 17, 2016 11:38:52 GMT -8
E-mail it to me and I will send it to everyone.
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bthodgson
All Americans
I'm the 82nd Airborne Division, and this is as far as the bastards are going! - PFC Vernon Haught
Posts: 728
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Post by bthodgson on Mar 17, 2016 11:41:09 GMT -8
It's my pleasure, Bob.
Roger that, Top. I'll create a form fill pdf today at some point and I'll email it out to you.
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Post by trooperbleed on Mar 20, 2016 17:44:22 GMT -8
Question: Do you want this 1st persona to be an ACTUAL 82nd trooper or are we writing a biography of someone who COULD have been a trooper? I ask because most of the WW2 82nd guys are nearly worshiped because of their bravery, dedication and overall bada**edness (if this is a word, it is meant in the very best way). It would seem to be somewhat sacrilegious to portray these guys 1st person when I know I am nowhere close to their abilities and accomplishments nor do I know their deepest personal feelings. I am obviously uncomfortable portraying a 1st person of an 82nd actual trooper. I am therefore assuming that the second scenario is correct and we are writing a period-fictional biography. Obviously, we would research place, professions, etc. to make this work and leave in flexibility for changes within the unit.
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bthodgson
All Americans
I'm the 82nd Airborne Division, and this is as far as the bastards are going! - PFC Vernon Haught
Posts: 728
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Post by bthodgson on Mar 20, 2016 19:07:19 GMT -8
Question: Do you want this 1st persona to be an ACTUAL 82nd trooper or are we writing a biography of someone who COULD have been a trooper? I ask because most of the WW2 82nd guys are nearly worshiped because of their bravery, dedication and overall bada**edness (if this is a word, it is meant in the very best way). It would seem to be somewhat sacrilegious to portray these guys 1st person when I know I am nowhere close to their abilities and accomplishments nor do I know their deepest personal feelings. I am obviously uncomfortable portraying a 1st person of an 82nd actual trooper. I am therefore assuming that the second scenario is correct and we are writing a period-fictional biography. Obviously, we would research place, professions, etc. to make this work and leave in flexibility for changes within the unit. Bleed - The first person persona is typically an entirely fictional persona meant to help us as individuals become more immersed in the time period with regards to news, sports, entertainment, events, etc. of the time that we are portraying. This, in no way, is meant to disrespect or detract from the real life heroes that were alive in this time. It is intended to help each of us learn more about this time period and put it into our conversations, thoughts and activities. By having to research these things for the fictional first person, it creates an avenue of research that can be a bit more in depth. This is also different from our KIA research which, I believe within this unit, is required of each trooper. (Leadership, please correct me if I am mistaken about the required KIA research!) Each trooper is at the very least highly encouraged to find a soldier from WWII that was Killed in Action and research them in order to preserve their memory and heroic sacrifice. You may see certain members on this forum that have the names of their KIA in their signature line. That would be the soldier that they've chosen to research and remember. By no means are you only restricted to a single soldier either. For instance, I have researched several soldiers during WWII in the hopes of preserving their memories for generations to come. Typically, one of the first ways to begin this research is to request a soldier's IDPF (Individual Deceased Personnel File) from the Freedom of Information Act Office. This file contains records of the deceased soldier's time within the Army. I have procured several soldiers' files and am always working on getting more. I have been meaning to formulate a post for some time now on the in's and out's of conducting KIA research. Perhaps it is about time that I made that happen. Until that post goes up, shoot me a PM with how to go about this and I'd be more than happy to respond and help out! Hope that this helps and make things a bit more clear!
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Post by trooperbleed on Mar 20, 2016 19:31:42 GMT -8
Great! You have answered my questions and concerns. I will endeavour to complete this project for my betterment. I can proceed with a clear head that I am doing what I can to honor these heros without any unintentional disrespect.
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